VIDEO: Cholera in Haiti a ‘really desperate’ situation
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BOSTON — An ongoing outbreak of cholera in Haiti has infected nearly 1 million people, and the situation will not improve unless action is taken, Louise Ivers, MD, MPH, FIDSA, FASTMH, told Healio at IDWeek.
Haiti is currently battling a major cholera outbreak that began in 2010, upsurged in 2022 and hit Haiti during a difficult humanitarian situation, Ivers, faculty director of the Center for Global Health at the Harvard Global Health Institute, explained.
“Despite a decade of this diarrheal disease, we have made no progress on water access,” she said, adding that only approximately eight out of every 100 homes in Haiti have access to clean drinking water. “This is a major contributor to the problem.”
Ivers said a political crisis — a blockade of fuel that prevented water trucks from moving around urban areas in Haiti — has also confounded the problem.
“The situation is really desperate,” she said.
In this video, Ivers provides an update on the current situation in Haiti while also addressing what can be done to help, including a call to action and vaccine access.
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